JP’s Notebook: Socks From The David Lozier Collection & A New One Running

My phone rings off the hook, here are some random things from my journalist’s notebook!

Republicans Organizing Against Their Own District Attorney

I can now report that senior officials in the Republican party are actively working to undermine their own incumbent district attorney.

Republican officials have apparently decided that District Attorney David Lozier needs to go and have begun trying to recruit a candidate to take him on in the primary elections next year.

The problem that Republican politicos are having is there aren’t many attorneys in Beaver County who are registered as Republicans.

There was some heavy lobbying recently to get attorney Robert Dappenbrook to take the plunge, but I’m told he’s made it clear he wants nothing to do with the hot mess that is Beaver County government.

In what I am sure is totally unrelated news (cough), attorney Gerald Benyo recently switched his party registration from Democrat back to Republican. Benyo currently has pending criminal charges being prosecuted against him by Lozier, which could make for a very interesting primary election cycle.

It seems that District Attorney Lozier’s decision to blackball an Aliquippa patrolman isn’t going over very well in the law enforcement community.

As I previously reported, Lozier sent a letter to the Aliquippa Police Department notifying them his office will refuse to prosecute any criminal case filed by Officer Kenneth Watkins. Lozier and his detectives were more than irritated that Watkins had refused to assist in the prosecution of Aliquippa Assistant Police Chief Joseph Perciavalle during his preliminary hearing on December 4.

Coincidentally, every officer from Aliquippa who was scheduled to be in court the following Monday failed to show up for their cases.

Law enforcement sources privately assure me there was absolutely not an organized protest against Lozier (which are not permissible under PA law), but couldn’t rule out that officers in the department may have all suddenly become ill with an undiagnosed condition shortly after Lozier sent out his letter.

Officer Watkins isn’t the only one to receive an unwelcomed letter from District Attorney Lozier recently.

Lozier sent Chairman Dan Camp a little note on December 19 notifying him about an automatic pay raise he will be getting next year.

The district attorney’s new salary for 2019? A meager $182,184.

Lozier hasn’t had a single fundraiser since taking office, and with his own party now rallying against him, it will be interesting to see how much of that he’s willing to spend to self-fund a reelection campaign.

District Attorney David Lozier’s letter to Chairman Dan Camp about his automatic pay increase.

Socks From The David Lozier Collection

While Lozier’s actions may be making some Aliquippa officers “ill,” he is proving to be a muse for other members of the Beaver County law enforcement community.

An officer from another department in Beaver County sent me this picture showing pairs of dress socks he had custom printed with Lozier’s head polka dotting them.

The officer tells me he’s been wearing the socks to court, and was so proud of his new found calling as a fashion designer he was more than happy to give me permission to publish the photo here.

I have a feeling there will be a lot of heads pointing down towards the ground in the courthouse next week!

A New One Running

There is now a new name in next year’s race for Beaver County Commissioner.

Julian Taylor posted a selfie video to his Facebook page on December 12 announcing his Democratic run for commissioner. Here’s a transcript of his remarks:

Good morning, my name is Julian Tayor.

Today I want to announce my candidacy for the Democratic nomination of Beaver County Commissioners.

I want to bring Beaver County into the new generation, and push it from 10 years from behind and push it 20 years to the future. I think Beaver County has a great chance in the near future to have great prosperity.

I believe in Beaver County and I hope you believe in me. Thank you.

Taylor hasn’t issued a press release yet or distributed a biography, but his Facebook page lists him as being a student in the Masters in Organizational Leadership program at Robert Morris University.

Republican Commissioner Dan Camp and Democratic Commissioner Tony Amadio have both announced their intentions to seek reelection, with Republican Commissioner Sandie Egley abandoning ship at the end of her first (and only) term.

Politicos are expecting Beaver County Chamber of Commerce President Jack Manning to enter the race early next year in the Republican primary; there are still rumblings that Aliquippa Mayor Dwan Walker may make a run on the Democratic side.

Democrats are running a good candidate for DA. He knows the problems with the office and how to spend them- overspending on detectives, how to go after the higher level drug dealers, etc. Dems won’t have good options for all offices, but they should win Sheriff with Kress and DA with Knafelc next time.

Vote Up14-19Vote Down Reply

Dec 27, 2018 12:41 pm

Guest

Know who your voting for

Kress was hand picked by Joe Askar to run last election. How is he a good canidadate as these two have been best friends since birth. More of the same I wish BC voters had a clue about how deep to corruption goes and how certain individuals run the county for their own benefit only.

Vote Up10-10Vote Down Reply

Dec 27, 2018 11:12 pm

Guest

NiceTry

I’ve known Kress for 30 years and talked to him when he was considering running and I can tell you his response had nothing to do with Askar or anyone else for that matter. It mostly consisted of turning things around and doing what’s right. Anyone that knows him knows exactly what I’m talking about and no one is going to steer him in another direction. He’s called out many of the corrupt players in this county already. Do yourself a favor, ask him personally, look at what he’s talked about and said already. Hey Midget, you couldn’t put dirt on him last time, nice try again this time. Go take more money from Betters, Christiana ( tied to betters, David, Mann) etc, you’ve proven youself worthless, move along!!

Vote Up8-4Vote Down Reply

Dec 28, 2018 3:29 pm

Member

Accordingtome

Back in 2000, John Ashcroft (yes, the former US Attorney General) lost a race for the US Senate to Mel Carnahan. What was unique about this particular election that occurred in Missouri was the fact that on election day Mel Carnahan was dead. He had been killed 3 weeks earlier in a plane crash so it was well known by the voters that their choices were between John Ashcroft and a dead man. They felt that Ashcroft was the lesser choice between the two options and elected the dead man.

Our choices here are becoming THAT bad. Would anybody like to nominate a dead person as a write in candidate? Although, in my opinion he was a nutcase, there would be some degree of satisfaction to see Dan Camp lose his reelection campaign to Dennis McKee.

McKee for County Commissioner. I’m in.

Vote Up20-4Vote Down Reply

Dec 27, 2018 5:39 pm

Member

Raven

It says something when Stonewall has become universally disliked, except for some close friends and hangers-on. It gives legitimacy to those who say that the guy just doesn’t belong in the job, and shouldn’t have been elected.

Vote Up18-6Vote Down Reply

Dec 27, 2018 6:00 pm

Guest

OneAndDone

Unseat this clown! Trust me this guy never made anywhere close to that salary in private practice. He is robbing the taxpayers while running his office into the ground. He’s better bank as much of that inflated salary as he can because no self-respecting Republican can possibly justify contributing to this loser’s campaign. When have you ever heard of a party working against an incumbent. Really sad for Beaver County. Vote for Knafelc and get rid of this idiot.

Vote Up15-4Vote Down Reply

Dec 27, 2018 11:03 pm

Member

John Q Taxpayer

That’s a hell of a lot of tax dollars being wasted. It should be criminal to pay him that salary. The only attorney that deservers that office and that pay is my man Benny.

Vote Up6-9Vote Down Reply

Dec 28, 2018 8:22 am

Member

equalizer13

Not to worry he’ll have his Superdicks campaigning hard for him. They are obsolete and useful only for bagging nickel and dime guys. Whoever runs should promise to disband these crooks and they’re main co conspirator Stonewall Loser. OT whores. How many unsolved murders guys? That’s the bottom line. We the taxpayers are being fleeced for nothing. Save over 1 million in 30 seconds. They can go be security guards at the new casino. They deserve to hang out with the other scoundrels in this county. Tying Kress to Askar really disturbs me. Unfortunately the idea of that Midget from Aliquippa winning another term scares me even more. Not enough jobs for all the Family & Friends Inc. May cause a rift. Someday someone with integrity and taxpayers interests first will realize how much these cronies have bilked from the county over the years for absolutely no results. Crime, drugs & corruption flourishing under their watch. Maybe we can get another casino for Chucky on the Waterfront in Quiptown. That’ll solve everything. Nardelli can build in Rochester and we’ll all get high paying jobs. BTW has anyone seen DEEWANNN? if he’s running he’ll have to leave his groundhog hole like Bob Casey sometime before the election. He’s awesome at hide and seek. How can a guy that huge wear a cloak of invisibility?